Steve Halle (Chicago, USA): "variations on two phrases from Othello", "Elegy/Eulogia"

VARIATIONS ON TWO PHRASES FROM OTHELLO

If I had a cap to tip,
a cup, or a ewe to tup,
to sit on my lap,
I'd toss her a tip
as she strips to trap
my lust, while my eyes
feast, and I'm tempted
again by the two-backed beast.


ELEGY / EULOGIA
For Lee Halle, 1928-2006

it’s a slow
steady, steady…
live, they
say. a slow
steady, steady
wind breathes
life into clay.

it’s too whip-
fast, Pallas, to Spring
whole from a head,
and after, this marathon
of whip-fast footfalls
run year-round your
ragged dead.


© Steve Halle 2007
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